Meet the Author

The FermentedlyChallenged blog has been retired since the end of October 2016. It has been a great 9 year run. Thanks to all the readers and brewery staff for all your support in the past. I'm living in the Denver metro area and working in the Cable TV industry now. Cheers and enjoy beer responsibly. Follow along on social media - @ChipperDave on Twitter and on Facebook.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Today is National Trail Mix Day. Hiking can be hard work. Why just bring along trail mix when you can easily port along some light-weight Colorado craft beer in cans! It's the last week of summer. What are you planning to do with brew over the long holiday weekend? Here's what's happening around the Colorado beerosphere today Wednesday, August 31st, 2011.

This beer news is fresh off the Internet tap and direct to you. If you have some brewery news you'd like included in the daily Colorado Beer News post please contact me today. This page is constantly updated during the day so stop back here often for all the latest news. If you'd like to subscribe to this daily by email, sign-up here.

Dr. Bill Tasting (Denver) - the annual Dr. Bill beer tasting event at the Falling Rock Tap House will take place this year on October 1st, 2011 at 7:45pm. Once a year, Dr. Bill, the beverage coordinator at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens digs into his personal beer cellar and hosts a tasting for friends and craft beer fans at Denver's most famous beer bar.

New Belgium (Fort Collins) announces the return of their fall seasonal Hoptober Golden Ale. This medium-bodied ale has 5 different hops and is mixed with 4 grains including pale, wheat, rye and oats. Available now through October.

Pateros Creek Brewing Co (Fort Collins) is offering up their summer brew creation Lady Moon. Tonight they will be hosting Pints and Purls - a crafting and craft beer get together. They are open from noon to 7pm tonight. Wednesday's Trivia Question: This front-range brew pub first opened in 1993 as a means to fill a void as a downtown neighborhood pub in a busy area swamped with restaurants. Nine years later they saw the need to expand to a second brewpub across town. Then in 2009 they wanted to expand into yet a bigger neighborhood in Denver. Name this brewery that split into three great locations.

Crabtree Brewing (Greeley) harvested over 1500 pounds of pumpkins last night in preparation for brewing up their annual Chunkin Pumpkin ale. Next year they plan to double that harvest. Stay tuned for some pumpkin brew!

Arvada Beer Company (Arvada) - work on building the brewery continues. Last night they moved the fermenters and the brewhouse into place. More sheet rock was put up along with some electrical and plumbing. Opening day is another step closer.

Hop Harvest - Many Colorado breweries are now processing pounds and pounds of fresh Colorado grown hops. Hops from the High Hops farm in Windsor have supplied to several local breweries including Grimm Brothers in Loveland and Pikes Peak Brewing in Monument. Other hop farms like Misty Mountain Hops, San Juan Hop Farms and Rising Sun Farms are also harvesting and selling fresh hops to local Colorado breweries. Look for many fresh hop ales to appear in September.

Grimm Brothers (Loveland) is co-hosting a beer dinner at The Pourhouse in Loveland on Tuesday, September 27th at 6pm. A five course meal paired with five different Grimm Brothers beers. Cost: $35 per person. RSVP at the brewery or restaurant.

5280 Magazine (Publication) announced their annual Autumn Edition Seasonal Six Pack. They chose 6 of the state's best beers and made them available at select stores in a special 6-pack. 1 bottle of each including: Ska Modus Hoperandi, Odell Cutthroat Porter, Wynkoop Silverback Pale Ale, Avery Ellie's Brown Ale, Boulder Beer Flashback India Brown Ale and Breckenridge 471 IPA. Look for it around the Denver metro area.

Renegade Brewing (Denver) may have been open for a couple months but they are going to throw a Grand Opening Party on Saturday, September 10th from 12 noon to 10pm at their brewery at 925 W. 9th Avenue in Denver. They will have live music, rare Renegade beers, food trucks and beer cupcakes. Mark your calendars and get ready to "party like a renegade".

Colorado Mountain Brewery (Colorado Springs) is calling all beer drinkers and running enthusiasts! Go to their brewery today for Blood, Sweat and Beers. Sign in at the brewery between 5:30 and 6:00pm today. You can either run/walk/job/skip/hop the 5k course or join Andrea Stiles for a long run on the Santa Fe Trail. After the run they will be offering a buy one get one special on all of their handcrafted brews as well as, offering 10% off of the food menu. To top the night off they will have complementary mini dessert samplers for the runners.

Avery Brewing (Boulder) is going to host a "Sweaty Sweater Party" on Wednesday, September 7th where they will inaugurate their first batch of Old Jubilation of the year into bottles. Wear your best (worst) holiday sweater, and if they judge it to be good (awful) enough, then you get a free pint on them.

Oktoberfests in Colorado - September and October mark the Oktoberfest season and dozens of Colorado towns are planning their own celebrations. Check out the schedule of known Colorado Oktoberfests.

The Mayor of Old Town (Fort Collins) - in honor of this weekend's Tour de Fat in FoCo, The Mayor is offering all New Belgium beers at $3 this Saturday. Ride in the tour then drop by for a brew.

Patrick's Irish Pub (Greeley) - congrats to Patrick's for being named the Greeley Tribune's "Best Local Bar" and "Best Place to Hang Out" in Greeley, CO for 2011. Also grats to Gordon's Liquor Mart for being voted "Best Liquor Store" in Greeley for 2011.

Dad and Dudes Breweria (Aurora) will tap a new batch of Blueberry Pomegranate Wheat and their popular Toffee Porter on Friday.

Summit Beer Garden (Denver Event) - a new event is being planned during the GABF in downtown Denver - the Summit Beer Garden - September 29 - October 1. Each night from 4pm to 1am come to a free event with live entertainment. There will be over 100 beers, brewery reps and a huge sausage food table available at the Summit Music Hall on Blake Street. Details here.